Interviews for the Charlotte Selver Oral History and Book Project

These interviews are not only an important source of information for my work on a biography of Charlotte. They are a fascinating collection of voices in their own right of people who's lives have been touched by her. I am collecting these memories for us to learn from and enjoy now and for future students of Sensory Awareness as a source of information and inspiration.

(Highlighted names point to articles on this web site; other highlights point to external web sites.)

  • Martha Babb: Psychotherapist / student / Mexico City

  • Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen: Peer and friend, Body-Mind-Centering / El Sobrante CA

  • Joan Barbour: Student and friend / Portola Valley CA

  • Pat Baxter: Student / Sensory Awareness leader / Safford AZ

  • Robin Bisio: Student: Dancer / Santa Barbara CA

  • Michael Blumenthal: Student of Heinrich Selver at Kaliski School in the 30s / former secretary of the treasury under Carter, Director of the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

  • Ulrich Bode: Grandson of Charlotte's early movement teacher, Rudolph Bode, Bode Gymnastik / Munich, Germany

  • Louise Boedeker: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Mendocino CA

  • Markell Brooks: Student in the 1950s / Pacific Palisades CA

  • Edward Espe Brown: Zen teacher, cook and author, The Peaceful Sea Sangha / Fairfax CA

  • Bruce Bryant: Student / Los Angeles CA

  • Carol Buck (1941- 2021): Student / Sensory Awareness leader / Brooklyn NY

  • Eric Carle (1929 - 2021): Friend / Picture Book Writer / www.eric-carle.com

  • Seymour Carter (1936 - 2012): Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Big Sur CA

  • Claudia Caviezel: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Neuhausen-Rheinfall, Switzerland

  • June Christensen: Student, Sensory Awareness leader/ Santa Barbara CA

  • Ginger Clark: student / Sensory Awareness leader / Denmark

  • Sally Clark: student / New York NY

  • Mary Connelly: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Sackville NB, Canada

  • Peggy Crawford: Student since the 50s / Santa Fe NM

  • Ed Deci: Student, professor of psychology (Self-Determination Theory),
    University of Rochester NY

  • Ruth Denison (1922 - 2015): Student, Buddhist Teacher, Dhamma Dena / Joshua Tree CA

  • Dieter Donner: Son of early friend, colleague and Gindler-student Erika Donner / Lautrach, Germany

  • Natalie Ednie: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Sandpoint ID

  • Marianne Ehrat: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Zürich, Switzerland

  • Etta Ehrlich: Student, psychotherapist, independent SA teacher

  • Robert Engel: Student / Santa Fe NM

  • Julie Esterly: Student, Sensory Awareness leader (web site) / Santa Cruz CA

  • Kathie Fischer: Friend, San Francisco Zen Center / Muir Beach CA

  • Norman Fischer: Friend, San Francisco Zen Center, Zen Buddhist teacher / Muir Beach CA

  • Ray Fowler: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, Winchester VA

  • Leslie French: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, Toronto ON, Canada

  • Don George: Former director of La Casa de Maria, Santa Barbara CA

  • Marsha Glassey: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / St. Cloud FL

  • Alissa Goldring: 1950s student, photographer / Aptos CA

  • Katja Gruettner-Donner: Granddaughter of Erika Donner, Germany

  • Bernie Gunther: Student, early Esalen years, u'dabuddha, Encinitas CA

  • Jill Harris: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Palo Alto CA

  • Lenore Hecht: Student, New York City

  • Susan Henning: Student, Sensory Awareness leader /Pittsboro NC

  • Helga Hoenen: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Rottenburg Germany

  • Lamar Hoover (died 2007): Student / Ojai CA

  • Anneke Hopfner (1934 - 2013): Student, Sensory Awareness leader, Bruchhausen, Germany student of Gindler-student Mieke Monjou.

  • Kathie Iannicelli: Friend / Monhegan Island ME

  • Ellen Jacobs: Student, leader / Santa Fe NM

  • Don Hanlon Johnson: Peer, friend, Somatics professor, writer (web site) / Mill Valley CA

  • Wendy Johnson: Friend, San Francico Zen Center, Buddhist teacher and master gardener / Muir Beach CA

  • Stanley Keleman: Somatic therapist, Formative Psychology / Berkeley CA

  • Robert Kest: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Montpelier VT

  • Lee Klinger Lesser: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Mill Valley CA

  • Amy Kranz: Student / New York City

  • Betty Krsonsky (1932 - 2015): Student, phsychotherapist / Santa Fe NM

  • Johanna Kulbach (1912 - 2010): Colleague, Gindler Student / New York City

  • Bill Kwong-roshi: San Francisco Zen Center, Sonoma Mountain Zen Center / Santa Rosa CA

  • Alice Ladas: 1950s acquaintance of Charles Brooks, Reichian psychotherapist, Lowen student, Santa Fe NM

  • Laurie Latner: Student / Sensory Awareness leader / Hopewell NJ

  • Christine Lehnherrstudent: Former abbess at SFZC City Center / San Francisco, CA

  • Jack Lindheimer: Nephew, son of Charlotte Selver's sister Ruth / Rosemead CA

  • Bill Littlewood: Student / Portland OR

  • Mercedez Lopez: Student / Sensory Awareness leader / Mexico City

  • Victor Lord: Neighbor, caretaker of Charlotte's house on Monhegan Island in Maine

  • Richard Lowe: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, former president of the Sensory Awareness Foundation, Founder of the Sensory Awareness Leaders Guild, Alameda CA

  • Fanny and Eduardo Maldonado: students / Fanny is a Sensory Awareness Leader / Eduardo is a film maker. See his documentary Ten Moments with Charlotte Selver / Mexico City

  • Pat Meyer-Peterson: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Charlottesville VA

    Jeff Mordkowitz with Martha Santer: Student, former president of the Institute of General Semantics, former secretary of the Institute of General Semantics / Brooklyn NY

  • Michael Murphy: Co-founder of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur CA

  • Thomas Niering: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, student of Gindler-student Frieda Goralewski, Berlin, Germany

  • Silke Nixdorff: Student / Berlin, Germany

  • Lily Nova: Student, Sensory Awareness leader /Grass Valley CA

  • Amrei Pfeiffer: Host of Charlotte's workshops in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany

  • Lilith Pincus: Student / leader Greenfield MA

  • Jim Powell: La Casa de Maria, Santa Barbara CA

  • Leonore Quest: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, student of Gindler-student Frieda Goralewski, Berlin, Germany

  • Yvonne Rand: Friend, SFZC, Zen teacher, goat in the road, Center Philo CA

  • Ruth Ray: Student / New York City

  • Terry Ray: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, Boulder CO

  • Charlotte Schuchardt Read (1909 - 2002): Student, Sensory Awareness leader, General Semantics / New York City

  • Sophia Rosoff: Early NYC student, piano teacher, Sensory Awareness leader, New York City

  • Helen Saffran: Student / New York City

  • Krista Sattler: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, Frastanz, Austria

  • John Schick: Student, friend, neighbor / Muir Beach CA

  • Charlotte Selver 

  • Leona Shahani: Student / Walnut Creek CA

  • Sue Shapiro: Student, psychoanalyst / New York City

  • Anna Shemin: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Berkeley CA

  • Len Shemin: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Berkeley CA

  • Joanne and George Singer: students / Santa Barbara CA

  • Kate Skinner: Student / Sensory Awareness Leader / San Francisco CA

  • Harriet Slavitz (1930 - 2007): Student, secretary of Charlotte Selver in the 1950s / Santa Fe NM

  • Bob Smith: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Flushing NY

  • Penny Smith: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Flushing NY

  • Connie Smith Siegel: Student, Sensory Awareness leader and painter / Woodacre CA

  • Pamela Strong: Student, former secretary of the Sensory Awareness Leaders Guild, San Francisco CA

  • Ute Strub: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, student of Gindler-student Elfriede Hengstenberg, pikler-hengstenberg-gesellschaft / Berlin, Germany

  • Eugen Tashima: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Davis CA

  • Michael Tophoff: Student / teacher and consultant / Limmen Holland

  • Pat Trocmé: Early NYC student 1950s in / Paris, France

  • Virginia Veach (1932 - 2012): Student / leader Point Reyes Station CA

  • Ruth Veselko (1918 - 2014): Student, Sensory Awareness leader, student of Heinrich Jacoby and Elsa Gindler / Winterthur, Switzerland

  • Karoline von Steinaecker: Author of Luftsprünge, a book about the beginnings of modern somatic practices in Germany / Berlin, Germany

  • Eberhard Wangemann: Student of Elsa Gindler / Berlin, Germany

  • Jutta Wangemann: Student of Elsa Gindler / Berlin, Germany

  • Judyth Weaver: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Mill Valley CA

  • Bernard Weitzman: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, psychoanalist / New York City

  • Sima Weiztman: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, psychoanalist / New York City

  • Nancy Wickens: student / Mebane NC

  • Babette Wills (1912 - 2009): Student and friend / Portola Valley CA

  • Eva and Lise Wittgenstein: Cousins / Bavaria, Germany

  • Sever Woll: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / St. Cloud FL

  • Peggy Wood (1924 - 2014): Student / early SAF officer / New York City

  • Hannah Woods: Student / Sensory Awareness leader / Marblehead MA

  • Bo Wreden: Student / Berkeley CA

  • Hannes Zahner: Student, Sensory Awareness leader, zeit der stille / Boncourt, Switzerland

  • Monika Zittastudent, Sensory Awareness leader / Bregenz, Austria

  • Marlene Zweig: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Denver CO

  • Paul Zweig: Student, Sensory Awareness leader / Denver CO

  • Lilian Zwinns: Student / New York City